North Somerset Council in court over youth cuts plan

A 21-year-old man has begun his High Court challenge against North Somerset Council's proposed youth cuts.

The Conservative-led council will be defending its decision, at the hearing in Cardiff, to cut 71% of funding over the next three years.

Aaron Hunt claims the council has breached the Equality Act by failing to consider matters of disability, sexual orientation and race.

The authority said it would defend its decision but did not comment further.

In February, councillors voted through cuts of £14.4m for the next financial year.

By Paul BarltropPolitical editor, West of England

Ending up in court is always tough for a council, even if they win. North Somerset's lawyers have spent weeks working on the case, with costs likely to run to tens of thousands of pounds.

The law itself is complex. Three barristers presented evidence relating to both the Equalities Act 2010 and education legislation. The judge will take some weeks to decide whether the council erred in the way it acted. What disheartens councillors is that he won't pay much attention to their financial difficulties.

The outcome of this case will be watched by many. There's been a rise in the number of legal challenges to council cuts; most notably plans to cut library services by Somerset and Gloucestershire were ruled illegal in November 2010.

But there is one big difference with this case - North Somerset's youth service cuts have already begun. That means a rapid ruling is wanted by everyone.